Life Finds a Way

Chapter 29

It had been several hours since Tseng left. Genesis had only left the room once, long enough to let Sergeant Mays know that Clarissa would not be part of the class that day, through no fault of her own. The prickly man had a few choice words but relented when Genesis reminded him of the folly of disrespecting the chain of command. He realized it was likely to make it harder on Clarissa, but there was not much to be done about it.

He looked up when Dr. Stein entered the room again. He watched as she moved around, taking vitals and checking on her patient. His brow furrowed when she paused and turned to him. "She's crying in her sleep again."

"Again?" Genesis looked over at the sleeping woman to see tears leaking from her closed eyelids.

"Yes, this is the second time I've seen this since you brought her in. The first time she was sobbing violently. I'm surprised she didn't wake herself up at that point."

Genesis turned a thoughtful and slightly worried gaze to the woman in the bed. He had seen her cry a few times, but they were only under high stress situations. He wondered what she had been through to cause nightmares bad enough to cause this. He and the doctor were both startled from their thoughts when the woman finally stirred, emitting a soft sob before she opened her eyes.

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When Clarissa woke she was overcome with a profound sense of sadness. She could already feel her eyes burning with tears, though it took her a moment to remember why. When she did, she couldn't stop the small sob that escaped. She knew she was going to have to come to terms with the loss of her entire life as she knew it, but it wasn't going to happen any time soon.

When she finally opened her eyes, she couldn't hold in a gasp. They had connected instantly with the intense gaze of Genesis. She immediately felt a wave of dread wash over her and pushed her sadness to the back of her mind for the moment. The memory of him confronting her about her 'death' was still fresh. She managed to push herself up, so she could face him while feeling less vulnerable. The fact that every part of her body screamed at her when she did so was only noted in the back of her mind. She had no idea what he planned to do now and was more nervous than she had been since she found out she was in Midgar.

She could see unasked questions in his gaze and wondered how she was going to answer them. Her thoughts were interrupted by the doctor that had helped her before. "Miss Williamson, can you tell me how you're feeling?"

She didn't want to take her eyes off Genesis, but the doctor was to her right. She reluctantly turned to address her, "I am sore all over. Other than that, I feel fine."

"No headache or disorientation?" The doctor's question made her wonder. She did remember Minerva telling her it would be bad because of the way she was jerked out of her body. The soreness she felt was more like an after effect of the strenuous activities Genesis put her through.

Something seemed off, but she couldn't quite figure it out. Finally, she remembered that she had woken up at one point with her head killing her, but the thought was fuzzy. She couldn't remember going back to sleep. It could have been that she had only partially woken up, but she had a gut feeling there was more to it than that. "I... think I remember waking up at one point with a killer headache, but it's kind of hazy. If I did, then it's gone now."

The doctor moved to shine a light in her eyes before giving her a pat on the arm. "Everything checks out for now. Do you have seizures often?"

Clarissa gave her a strange look at that. "I have never had a seizure that I'm aware of."

The doctor's look was unreadable. "From what I was told this was your second one. If they aren't normal it may be best for you to stay here for observation. At least for today."